Based on Hisaichi ISHII's comic strip Tonari no
Yamada-kun, this film is about the daily lives of the Yamada family:
Takashi and Matsuko (the father and mother), Shige (Matsuko's mother),
Noboru (the son), Nonoko (the daughter), and Pochi (the family dog). The
comic is currently serialized in the Asahi
Shinbun (see a sample of the comic), though
it has been renamed Nono-chan.

Takahata wanted Yamada-kun to have the art
style of watercolor pictures (see above) rather than cel pictures. To
achieve that, the traditional paint-on-cel techniques were replaced with
digital technology, making Yamada-kun the first Ghibli
movie to be painted and animated entirely on computers.